Green Engineering: Environmentally Conscious Design of Chemical Processes

Appendix CEstimating Emissions from Storage Tanks

Emission rate correlations have been developed by industry and government agencies for storage tanks and secondary emission sources (U.S. EPA 1985, U.S. EPA 1998). Storage tanks are units common to almost every chemical process. They provide a buffer for raw materials availability in continuous processes and allow for storage of finished product before delivery is taken. Tanks have the potential to be major contributors to airborne emissions of volatile organic compounds from chemical facilities because of the dynamic operation of these units. There are two major losses mechanisms from tanks; working losses and standing losses. Working losses originate from the raising and lowering of the liquid ...